Behind the Bark
You don't need a champagne budget to run a killer direct mail campaign.
A company called Brex (which sells credit cards to startups) spent $19k sending bottles of Veuve Clicquot to 300 startup founders. Their CEO included a handwritten note congratulating them on their recent funding and then followed up by asking for a demo.
The results? Most of them booked. Most of those became customers.
But here's what matters for you: it wasn't the champagne that made it work. It was the formula.
They identified people who had just experienced a specific trigger event (raising money). They sent something personal and unexpected. They made contact at the exact moment their prospects were most likely to need their service.
You can use this exact playbook with a Sharpie and $150.
Limb of the Week
Here's your tree service version of the champagne campaign:
Step 1: Find Your Trigger Events
Instead of startups that just raised money, you're looking for properties that just experienced something that screams "you need tree work."
Your trigger events:
Homes that sold in the last 60 days (new owners = new projects)
Properties in neighborhoods with mature trees after a storm
High-end neighborhoods in spring (before entertaining season)
Commercial properties that have just changed ownership
How to get the list:
Cheapest route? Ask a realtor buddy or your title company contact to pull the last 30 days of sales in your best 3 neighborhoods. Most will do it for free if you buy them a coffee.
If you want to do it yourself, your county recorder's office has public records (painful to navigate, but free). Or use a service like ListSource or REDX for under $100.
Step 2: Make It Personal (Without Breaking the Bank)
Skip the champagne. Your version:
A nice postcard (not a flimsy one) with a photo of a property after your work
A brief handwritten note at the top: "Congrats on the new place, [Name]" or "Hope your property made it through the storm okay."
Your offer: Free tree health assessment or Free storm damage inspection
Cost breakdown:
DIY with a Sharpie: $1–2 per card (postcard + stamp)
Automated handwriting (Handwrytten, Simply Noted): $3–4 per card, but saves your hand and about 2 hours per 50 cards
If you hate new tools, stick with DIY. 25 handwritten cards take under an hour on a Sunday night.
Step 3: Follow Up Like You Mean It
This is where most tree services blow it. Brex didn't just send champagne and hope. Their CEO followed up.
Your move: Call or text 3–5 days after the postcard hits.
Script: "Hey [Name], I'm the one who sent you that postcard about the free tree assessment. Got 15 minutes this week to walk your property?"
If they say "we're still settling in," you just say: "No rush — want me to swing by next week or the week after to give you a quick punchlist of what might need attention?"
That's it. No fancy CRM. Just your phone and a little persistence.
The Math That Matters
Let's be conservative. Assume your list is decent but not perfect:
100 postcards with basic personalization: $150
Your time to follow up with calls: 3 hours
Response rate (realistic): 3–5% → 3–5 assessments
Close rate on warm walk-throughs: 30–50% → 1–2 jobs
Average tree job in your area: $1,500–$3,500
That's $1,500 to $7,000 from a $150 investment.
And if you hit 10% response on a tight list? Now you're looking at $4,500–$10,500.
The math works even when the numbers suck. That's the point.
Yes, this takes about 3 hours of phone time. That's still less than dealing with tire-kickers from Google every day for a week.
Sawdust
Cheap & Scrappy:
Ask a realtor or title company for a list (free)
Handwrite 25 cards yourself (60 min)
Follow up from your phone
More Automated:
ListSource or REDX for lists (~$100)
Handwrytten or Simply Noted for cards (~$3–4 each)
Still follow up from your phone — no fancy system needed
You don't need all of these. Pick ONE way to pull a list and ONE way to send cards. Start with 25. See what happens.
Quick Start Version
Not ready to automate? Here's your move:
Pull 25 addresses of homes sold in your best neighborhoods in the last 30 days
Write 25 quick notes yourself — Saturday morning, coffee, Sharpie
Drop them in the mail
Call them the following Thursday
Do this once a month for at least 3 months before deciding whether it works. One batch isn’t a ‘strategy,’ it’s a test.
Kickback
When you're ready to scale this up or want help building a direct mail system that runs without you, we can help.
We’ll look at your numbers, your neighborhoods, and whether mail even makes sense. If it does, we’ll show you how we’d run it. If it doesn’t, you still walk away with a plan.
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Written by Jacob Hastings
Head of Growth & Client Strategy at Growth Ring Media
